interested in getting my first nice setup! please help!

[suda562]

Hi, I'm new to the forum. Just joined today after finding it extremely helpful! Your help would be much appreciated!

So here is my current situation. I recently got married and will be buying a house in the next couple years here. I would like to get my first audio system sometime between now and then as I've always dreamed of. I currently have nothing as far as quality audio products go. I'll be saving appropriately to get what you recommend!

As far as price range goes, I guess about the most I can justify is $4,000. But I don't want to get tied into a budget just to spend that much money. I guess what is more important is value for money. If jumping up the line would make a big difference, then I guess I can justify it.

I have gone the only two nice audio/video outfits in the city of Portland Oregon (that I know of) and they have pushed two different brands on me after much auditioning as far as speakers go, and one for receivers. Rotel for receiver and both Paradigm and B&W for speakers. This kind of limits me I realize but I want to buy a speaker I am able to listen to.

Let me qualify my listening habits. Percentage wise, probably 50-60% music and the rest TV and DVD's. I'm not a huge theater junky. As far as room size goes, I'm unsure as we will be buying a house in the near future and that will all be changing.

The auditions were brand specific as both store only carry either B&W or Paradigm. As far as sound to my ear goes, I personally prefer the B&W CM 7's to the Paradigm Studio 60's.

So my question to you is...

I would like to make this a one time purchase, not regretting it down the road and wishing I had gone higher up.

As far as receivers go, what would you recommend I take a look at in the Rotel lineup? I've looked at both the 1052 for $899 and 1056 on sale for $999. Personally I appreciate their straight forward, non-techy approach. I want something that will handle theater in the future, but doesn't sacrifice music sound quality. Other lines would work too, just don't want a receiver that you have to have a college degree in engineering to understand.

As far as speakers go, what other speakers in the B&W, Paradigm, or any other line should I check out? What am I losing if I end up going down a step to a different B&W line?

Sorry for so many questions! I'd love to hear any and all input...including don't write so much. Thanks in advance!

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Speakers:

B&W
Paradigm Studio series
Dynaudio
Warfs
PSB

Subwoofer based on the size of your room, SVS, HSU

AVR or pre/pro and amp: determined once we know what you are trying to drive (speakers)

 

[BoB/335]

Why would Axiom or Energy not be on that list? Just a curious lurker.

 

[jamie2112]

Well I myself hate the sound of Axiom speakers. I have heard the 80's and the 60's and all I can say is "Not Impressed". Energy on the other hand I really like. Everybody has their own opinion and thats what makes this such a great forum to be a part of.....

 

[suda562]

thanks!

Thanks for the responses! I agree with you Jamie in that I wasn't impressed with the Studio Paradigm line. I'm interested to hear anyone's opinion. If it were your money what would you look into? As far as PSB's, and Warfs I'm not sure where I could find those. The only other place I was thinking of heading to was Magnolia, but personally I have found the smaller shops more worthy of my business. Probably should head there and check into the Energy line as well as Dynaudio. I guess the one thing I want to avoid is the big box retailer.

What would you recommend in the Energy line? What about the Dynaudio?

Anyone else? Thanks!

 

[jamie2112]

I would also agree that you should stay out of the big box stores. The best advice I can give you is to take your own cd's and dvd's to listen to as you should be as familier with the sounds being reproduced. Dynaudio is a great although expensive speaker. Are you at all interested in used B&W speakers? The reason I ask is there are some incredible deals right now on www.audiogon.com on some great B&W's.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Hey...Jamie never said he didn't like the Paradigms, he was talking about the Axioms.

In the end, it only matters what sounds good to you. To me it is Paradigm, B&W and Dynaudio. Go find everything you can and listen to them with music you like.

 

[BoB/335]

Jamie,
What didn't you like about the M80's? They seem to get some great reviews. What would you prfer in that price range and why?

 

[suda562]

OOPS! My fault! First post and I'm already messing it up. Sorry ParadigmDawg. Just a personal taste. To each his own I guess. I will definitely go and check out what Magnolia has to offer. Jamie as far as Audiogon you must be talking about the 604's? I didn't actually listen to those, so I will have to return here in the next few days to check them out.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Stay out of Magnolia...lol...

Just about all the speaker companies have a website with a dealer locator on them. I would start there as there may be some stores you are not aware of.

 

[allargon]

Congratulations on getting married.

B&W's are nice (pricey) speakers. Do you have any RBH or BG Corp dealers in your area?

The internet brands like EMP and AV123 get great ratings, but you would need to pay return shipping if you didn't like what you heard.

Rotels are damned pricey. They look and sound great, but Denon, Marantz and Harman Kardon sound pretty good, too. NAD (well, used) and Cambrige Audio also play in that $1k+ receiver price range. I'll skip the receiver discussion because we're not ready for that yet.

You should also have a Fry's in Portland? (Yep, it's in Wilsonville!) There's nothing too high end there. However, you can listen to certain Polks, JBL's and Infinity's. You might like what you hear if you give some of the mass market stuff a listen as well.

 

[suda562]

HA! Thanks! I didn't want to go there anyways. I found another store I didn't know about that I think I will head to here in the next few days. They have both Dynaudio as well as some other brands I haven't heard of. So I'll head there and update you when I learn more! Thanks for any advice! Agree with Magnolia being a bit, well, big box.

Any other receivers I should be checking out in that same price range? Or suggestions in the Dynaudio line?

Thanks Thanks Thanks!!!

 

[suda562]

Congratulations on getting married.

B&W's are nice (pricey) speakers. Do you have any RBH or BG Corp dealers in your area?

The internet brands like EMP and AV123 get great ratings, but you would need to pay return shipping if you didn't like what you heard.

Rotels are damned pricey. They look and sound great, but Denon, Marantz and Harman Kardon sound pretty good, too. NAD (well, used) and Cambrige Audio also play in that $1k+ receiver price range. I'll skip the receiver discussion because we're not ready for that yet.

You should also have a Fry's in Portland? (Yep, it's in Wilsonville!) There's nothing too high end there. However, you can listen to certain Polks, JBL's and Infinity's. You might like what you hear if you give some of the mass market stuff a listen as well.

Oh and thanks for the congrats! I have listened to similar places, such as Circuit City or we used to have Best Buy (went out of business) and I have listened to some of that stuff. I'll have to check that out as well. So many places, so little hours in the day.

So sounds like the first decision is the speakers? I would love to piecemeal this purely for financial reasons. Thanks again!

 

[jamie2112]

[QUOTE;502475]OOPS! My fault! First post and I'm already messing it up. Sorry ParadigmDawg. Just a personal taste. To each his own I guess. I will definitely go and check out what Magnolia has to offer. Jamie as far as Audiogon you must be talking about the 604's? I didn't actually listen to those, so I will have to return here in the next few days to check them out.[/QUOTE]

Actually I was talking about the B&W page on Audiogon. There are some incredible deals there:http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/srch_fs.pl?BAAW There are many great speakers in your price range so B&W is just a preference......

 

[Geno]

Since you're in the Portland area, you really should check out Aperion. Their headquarters is there, and they have a great showroom for you to visit. Their website is pretty helpful, too. BTW, are you looking for a 2-channel system, or 5.1? That'll have a big impact on your speaker choices.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I didn't know Aperion was there, yes check those out.

Since you're in the Portland area, you really should check out Aperion. Their headquarters is there, and they have a great showroom for you to visit. Their website is pretty helpful, too. BTW, are you looking for a 2-channel system, or 5.1? That'll have a big impact on your speaker choices.

 

[boboi]

Hi, I'm new to the forum. Just joined today after finding it extremely helpful! Your help would be much appreciated!

So here is my current situation. I recently got married and will be buying a house in the next couple years here. I would like to get my first audio system sometime between now and then as I've always dreamed of. I currently have nothing as far as quality audio products go. I'll be saving appropriately to get what you recommend!

As far as price range goes, I guess about the most I can justify is $4,000. But I don't want to get tied into a budget just to spend that much money. I guess what is more important is value for money. If jumping up the line would make a big difference, then I guess I can justify it.

I have gone the only two nice audio/video outfits in the city of Portland Oregon (that I know of) and they have pushed two different brands on me after much auditioning as far as speakers go, and one for receivers. Rotel for receiver and both Paradigm and B&W for speakers. This kind of limits me I realize but I want to buy a speaker I am able to listen to.

Let me qualify my listening habits. Percentage wise, probably 50-60% music and the rest TV and DVD's. I'm not a huge theater junky. As far as room size goes, I'm unsure as we will be buying a house in the near future and that will all be changing.

The auditions were brand specific as both store only carry either B&W or Paradigm. As far as sound to my ear goes, I personally prefer the B&W CM 7's to the Paradigm Studio 60's.

So my question to you is...

I would like to make this a one time purchase, not regretting it down the road and wishing I had gone higher up.

As far as receivers go, what would you recommend I take a look at in the Rotel lineup? I've looked at both the 1052 for $899 and 1056 on sale for $999. Personally I appreciate their straight forward, non-techy approach. I want something that will handle theater in the future, but doesn't sacrifice music sound quality. Other lines would work too, just don't want a receiver that you have to have a college degree in engineering to understand.

As far as speakers go, what other speakers in the B&W, Paradigm, or any other line should I check out? What am I losing if I end up going down a step to a different B&W line?

Sorry for so many questions! I'd love to hear any and all input...including don't write so much. Thanks in advance!

Congrats! Now don't forget about the WAF.

 

[mike_wassell]

Rotel is good stuff but if I were in your shoes I would consider the Onkyo 876. You will get a lot more for your money with the Onkyo. You can get it on Amazon for around $1000.00. Only one problem with the Onkyo is that it needs to be on an open shelf. It can overheat if you place it in an enclosed cabinet.

Dynaudio speakers are awesome but pricy. Paradigm and B&W are also great. If you can I would also audition at PBS and Focal speakers. These are all good speakers, get great reviews and you can’t go wrong with any of them. In your price range you might get the most for the buck with the PSB Image line. PSB can also be found on line at a slight discount.

You might also want to consider an SVS subwoofer - you will get a lot of sub for the buck.

Good luck,

Mike

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Personal listening preference is huge.

If ParadigmDawg says that the Paradigm Studio 100s sound awesome, I believe him, even though I personally do not prefer the sound of the Studio 100s when I auditioned them a few months ago. The guy who was showing me the 100s didn't agree with me either. He said the 100s sounded just fine.

A few weeks before auditioning the Studio 100s, I listened to the B&W 800Ds. The guys there thought the 800Ds sounded great. Looking back, which is purely subjective, I definitely thought the $23K 800Ds sounded better than the Studio 100s, but I did not think the 800Ds sounded like $23K speakers either.

Next, I listened to the MartinLogan Vantage and thought it sounded better than the Studio 100s.

Then I listened to the Dali EUPHONIA MS4 and thought it sounded just as good as the B&W 800Ds.

You are in a good situation right now because you have plenty of time. I say audition at least 10 different brands of speakers before even thinking about buying any of them. Don't limit yourself.

Rotel is great. Check out the new receiver:

http://www.rotel.com/NA/Products/ProductDetails.htm?id=471

 

[suda562]

Personal listening preference is huge.

If ParadigmDawg says that the Paradigm Studio 100s sound awesome, I believe him, even though I personally do not prefer the sound of the Studio 100s when I auditioned them a few months ago. The guy who was showing me the 100s didn't agree with me either. He said the 100s sounded just fine.

A few weeks before auditioning the Studio 100s, I listened to the B&W 800Ds. The guys there thought the 800Ds sounded great. Looking back, which is purely subjective, I definitely thought the $23K 800Ds sounded better than the Studio 100s, but I did not think the 800Ds sounded like $23K speakers either.

Next, I listened to the MartinLogan Vantage and thought it sounded better than the Studio 100s.

Then I listened to the Dali EUPHONIA MS4 and thought it sounded just as good as the B&W 800Ds.

You are in a good situation right now because you have plenty of time. I say audition at least 10 different brands of speakers before even thinking about buying any of them. Don't limit yourself.

Rotel is great. Check out the new receiver:

http://www.rotel.com/NA/Products/ProductDetails.htm?id=471

Awesome advice everyone! Thanks so much! Now let me try and address everyone,

ParadigmDawg and Geno, I will definitely check out the Aperion as they are probably a couples miles from my house (wow what a small world). More to come on that!

AcuDefTechGuy, so far on the list I have checked out B&W, and Paradigm, hopefully I can check out the Onkyo receiver, Aperion, and Dynaudio, and whatever else this Pearl Audio Shop has to offer in the next few days here (Ayre Acoustics?, Arcam?, and Magnepan who seem to have a totally different approach to the speaker scene). It is nice to have time to make the right decision, you are right! This forum has helped so much to open so many more doors! Oh and that new Rotel receiver is the reason for the markdown on that "old" receiver I posted in the original post. Seems to be quite the upgrade!

Geno, as far as 2 channel or 5 channel, I guess being a total newbie to the scene I'm not sure. Probably to start with my wallet can only afford, a 2 channel music system. However from my understanding purchasing something similar to the 1052 by Rotel would limit me to 2-channel sound permanently. I want to buy a receiver that will allow expansion into the 5 channel sound down the road. Music tends to be my primary listening however.

mike_wassel, another shop on the list downtown. I'll have to make it there as well. Thanks!

Jamie, that site has some awesome deals indeed! I think I'm going to check out all these other lines and use that probably as the ultimate purchasing home for whatever I decide on. How reliable is it as far as scam-ability?

Wow, another long response! Sorry! Just a bit excited!